Logan Kem Heuser

A week ago today Logan Kem Heuser joined the his family at 2:55pm. Logan and Lea Ann are doing great...they even left the hospital the day after he was born. He weighted 5 lbs 8 oz and is 18 in. We were able to see him the night he was born but we forgot to take pictures, but here are a few from Sunday. He's a cutie!

Welcome to the world and our 'family' little guy!

 All the boys, Nathan & Lucas with a basketball and Jake & Logan with their football. (Yes, it's obvious that Lucas is our child...look at that pale skin glow.)

 Don't get any ideas about Thomas baby #2 coming soon, the brief moment of holding two babies was good enough to hold me off for a bit. ;-)

 Logan looks so small in Nathan's hands. We just kept looking at each other and saying "he's so small"...and really he is compared to Lucas...we didn't get to meet Lucas when we was Logan's size (Logan has another 3 lbs to gain before we can compare).

 Campbell and Lucas are slowly able to start playing together...Lucas is now a bit interactive.

Smiles

We're working at capturing Lucas' smile on campus...and having fun in the process.

"Oh, you want me to take my hand out of my mouth for this? Sorry, not going to happen."

"Hi!"

 "You talking to me?!"

 And Nathan's favorite, the half smile.

He keeps growing

My apologize for the delay in getting new posts up...Nathan and I have been busy with the start of the new school year. As a whole, things are off to a good start. However, I've noticed that the number of pictures we're taking of Lucas diminishes as the weeks progress...one of the down sides of him not being my only FT job.

Here are a couple good smiling pictures that I took because he was looking so big...he's growing like a weed.

 He really does like the Bumbo chair more than it looks like in the pictures. I'd even venture to say that he now 'sits' it in. He is also still a fan of him play gym, but not as much as he used to be. However, the other day he was having a grand old time talking to himself...here he catch me taking pictures of him.

 Our little Cardinals fan is working on his throwing arm.

 The other day Nathan figured out that Deb was teaching Lucas how to hold his own bottle...much to our surprise, he's got it down. He has mad skills. :)

 On Saturday morning I found my boys enjoying a beautiful morning on the deck.

The beginning

A year ago today we encountered a word that has completely transformed our lives...

Yes, pregnant. It was the first day of classes for ISU in 2011 that it was confirmed we were going to be parents. I had an idea that I was pregnant...my body felt different, but to actual see the word 'pregnant' on the test was shocking. I took the test first thing in the morning and couldn't decide if I should wake Nathan or get him up after I got out of the shower like usual. Since he just came off the busy weekend of move-in...I let him sleep a few extra minutes and tried to figure out how to tell him. I can't remember what I told him or if I even said anything but the rest of our day...lives...was filled with thinking out the upcoming birth of our child.

Nathan brought home flowers that night and we chatted over dinner about our future and soaked in the news. And now a year later, we have a beautiful, happy baby boy. God has blessed us in so many ways.

Another baseball game

Lucas has now seen three different baseball teams play this summer. Last night we went to the Peoria Chief's game. It was a beautiful summer evening to enjoy a game. While Nathan was getting his $.25 hot dogs I took a few rare pictures of Lucas and me. So here I am with my baby boy.

Lucas is also starting to put more things in his month...maybe teeth are on there way? While I want him to get teeth, I don't want him to go through the pain of getting them.

Future basketball player

Our friends Chris and Kristin gave Lucas a Michael Jordan outfit to prepare him for his future role as a great basketball player...and Nathan has already marked out where the basketball hoop will go in the yard. Now we just pray that Lucas continues to be in the 80th percentile for height. :)

"Who wants to play?"

Pre-game focusing.

"You think you can beat me? Better bring your A game."

Chilling after a win.

Breaking down the game with daddy.

Committed to the game...sleeping in the shoes.

A day in the life of Lucas

While these aren't all from the same day, they're a glimpse into what Lucas has been up to in the last week or so.

He enjoys sitting up in the chairs and has more recently started to put everything in his mouth, if he can. His dog is getting a break here.

He still loves when he's on his back and we're right there to play and talk with him.

Lucas wore a tie to daddy's work and now he wants to wear daddy's dress pants..."What up world! I'm large and in charge!"

He is also getting better at sitting in the bumbo chair...he keeps getting stronger.

Lucas enjoys when we read books to him. Here he is helping daddy hold the pages.

While I'd like to say he is looking at me here...it's a little hard to tell because he was also trying to get a glance at the TV. I think the TV is going to be on a lot less in the Thomas house because Lucas is drawn to the voices and movement.

Hard to say what's going on here...but it's not a scary or serious book. :-)

3 months old!

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get Lucas' 3 month pictures posted; this week is feeling more like what I thought last week would...busy and tiring. We had a busy weekend celebrating baby showers, hosting Nathan's hall staff, and documenting Lucas turning 3 months old. Lucas will soon be as long as the tennis/basketball blanket we use to take his pictures...he just keeps growing and filling out.

One of the new things Lucas is doing is opening his mouth up very wide. Sometimes he does it because he's hungry but he also does it before he is going to make sounds or to show us how happy he is. Speaking of making sounds, Lucas continues to become more of a talker. He talks to us and to himself. It's so fun to hear him find his voice and new sounds.

Lucas & Finley

Our friends Jeff & Jen have moved to their home state of Wisconsin after living in Peoria for a couple years. Before they made the move, Lucas and I were able to have lunch with Jen and Finley (8 mo) as well as let the kids play together a bit.

It's so hard to get pictures of such young kids looking in the camera...so I go for fun/cute expressions. We'll miss our Packer friends but look forward to seeing them in Madison.

First day

We all made it through Lucas' first day at daycare and Erin's first day back at work. From what Deb said, Lucas is the only one who didn't cry that day (even though he looks so serious in the pictures)...which makes us very thankful. Lucas seems to be enjoying his time with Deb (daycare provider) and Erin is staying busy/distracted at work.

Here are Lucas' first day (of "school") pictures:

Nathan has been so supportive of me during every step of this motherhood/parenthood journey. He is the best husband and father a woman could ask for. (Thank you sweetie...for everything, including the beautiful flowers you brought home on Monday.)

Weekend

We have always enjoyed our weekend time together as a family. This last weekend was no different on that account but because Lucas started daycare and Erin went back to work on Monday, we really soaked up the time together. Let's just say Lucas got lots of kisses and hugs. He is such a happy kid. :)